Saturday, October 15, 2016

Some people think the “Right to Farm” vote on November's ballot is unnecessary, but they don't see what I've seen in my years of public service.

The goal of liberal activists is to intimidate states in how they regulate. We're seeing this with the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan, which consists of two carbon mandates — written primarily by activist groups — that would attempt to strong-arm states to re-engineer their utility grids and reassess how they regulate local energy resources. Then there is the WOTUS rule, in which the administration inappropriately collaborated with radical environmentalists in an unprecedented federal land grab. These activists won't stop there.

In July 2015, I held a committee hearing where a witness testified that environmental activists are setting their sights on the agriculture industry next. Amending the state constitution is about sending a signal to liberal extremists on the outside not to waste their time and money on Oklahoma. With Right to Farm, the state can continue putting forward proper safeguards for its residents, while our constitution will protect our farmers and ranchers from being unnecessarily over-regulated as a result of external pressures and big-money liberal campaigns. With Right to Farm, Oklahoma will protect its own for generations to come.

There is a national effort to stop one of the greatest engines of our economy — agriculture. I don't want to see it succeed. I want to see Oklahoma agriculture and Oklahoma families succeed. Join me and vote “Yes” on SQ 777.